New song out there Vilified

Dreadful stuff all together. The last two Alice in Chains records have been awful too, this sounds like more of the same with a few more complex drum fills. 

Never thought I'd be tired of the voice or sound but he's done it. All the material is delivered in the same key and tempo.

His solo stuff has always been weak as fuck. He's a great harmoniser, because his voice is bland as fuck so doesn't take the focus off the good singers he has been with, but he's not a lead singer himself. Black Gives Way To Blue is starting to look like his Stench, the quality late career fluke.

Quote from: Bürggermeister on July 27, 2024, 09:25:44 PMHis solo stuff has always been weak as fuck. He's a great harmoniser, because his voice is bland as fuck so doesn't take the focus off the good singers he has been with, but he's not a lead singer himself. Black Gives Way To Blue is starting to look like his Stench, the quality late career fluke.

I hate to agree with this but it's pretty spot on. Boggy Depot was abysmally poor, Degradation Trip had about 4 good songs and the rest was filler. The last few AIC albums have had about 2 or 3 songs that aren't snooze fests.... almost forgot his recent solo album so that says it all about that one.

#3 July 27, 2024, 10:39:47 PM Last Edit: July 27, 2024, 10:47:13 PM by The Wretch
Even the last AIC album with Staley was a serious step down in quality IMO.

Everything else has been mediocre to fair.

Black Gives Way To Blue is still amazing. The trio of Facelift, Dirt and Jar Of Flies are why people still rave about then as a band all these years later.

Black Gives Way To Blue is grand, but I really didn't take to it as much as everyone else seemed to.

I rarely listen to Jar Of Flies/Sap/Unplugged now, they were so overplayed in my circle of friends I don't feel like I need to hear them again for a long time. Not that I mind when I hear those songs in passing, I just wouldn't bother playing them myself. 

Facelift and Dirt are the business, obviously.

Boggy/Degradation could have been a solid single album. His solo stuff is far too samey. New song is awful.

Boggy Depot was shite, but I thought Degradation Trip (the double disc version) for me contained some of his best material that isn't on Dirt.

Both his solo and AiC material has been rubbish since BGWtB. Hate to agree, but yeah, that album appears to have been a later career fluke akin to Stench for sure.

Quote from: Bürggermeister on July 27, 2024, 09:25:44 PMHis solo stuff has always been weak as fuck. He's a great harmoniser, because his voice is bland as fuck so doesn't take the focus off the good singers he has been with, but he's not a lead singer himself. Black Gives Way To Blue is starting to look like his Stench, the quality late career fluke.

I just don't get the Black Gives Way... worship at all. Played it when it came out and thought it had nothing going for it but then tried again years later after reading some effusive praise on here but no still no feelings at all. What am I missing?

Same here. It's grand like, but I really don't understand the hoopla.
 


Indeed, but I realy like BGWTB. It's not AIC  to my ears but it's a mighty album in its own right.

His solo stuff is of a one with the s/t AIC  album - without Staley's input it's just dull.

The self titled is hard work alright. But how do we account for the dullness of Mad Season? Layne present and correct but no Jerry! I think Jerry is a great riff-smith but relatively healthy Layne took his ideas to even greater heights. Layne was too far gone by the self titled and maybe Jerry was uninspired and struggling with dealing with a junkie.

Cantrell had his own issues with that too didn't he? Although I assumed he was mostly clean by that stage, but still, it had to have some effect. 

Mad Season is another one I never need to hear again really. "my painn is self choooozeeeyeeen" Ugh.

Self titled had its charms but I believe all bar Inez were fucked up on drugs at that point. Despite Layne looking like death in the video, the audio for Unplugged is magic. Mad Season is indeed a snooze fest